Browsing All Posts published on »July, 2009«

Impressions of Prenzlauerberg/ Pregnant Hill

July 20, 2009

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Someone wrote to me recently and asked me what Berlin is like. So I thought I would give a taste of me here. First off the weather is manic. It’s hot and summery one minute but yesterday, it was gray, chilly and humid, and I was sitting outside at a cafe wrapped in this cozy… [Read more…]

How I Found One Of My Fictional Characters In A Supermarket In Berlin And Lots Of Other Stuff About My Writing Process

July 18, 2009

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So this blog entry is in response to someone who asked me how I get my stories for the blog. I was asked if I went undercover. The idea made me laugh and think of some of my favorite visual artists who follow folks or disguise themselves, like Sophie Calle or Cindy Sherman. I am… [Read more…]

The Mysterious West Meets East Berlin

July 18, 2009

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  The first three days in Berlin I was wicked sick and this was a good thing because while I was bed ridden I read up on Berlin’s history and also indulged reading a fat novel from beginning to end with small breaks in less than 36 hours. Something I haven’t been able to do ever since… [Read more…]

More On All Things Turin: Illegal rentals, Senegalese realtor, Gypsies in schools, etc

July 7, 2009

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In the newspaper yesterday an illegal rental was found by the carabanieri (police) where an Italian rented a sort of garage/small unlivable room to 14 Pakistani immigrants, each of them paid 100 euros a month for access to a mattress and bathroom. And when the police came around the Italian would lock it and the… [Read more…]

They had immigration, And now they live on reservations. Think About it.

July 7, 2009

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If you go to the right-winged political group in Italy, leganord.com website you will find posters like this one. They are fear mongerers and recruiting disgruntled working class Italians who are out of jobs.  They are positioning themselves as the marginal Italians and obviously comparing their situation with U.S. natives who “allowed”  European immigration and then were… [Read more…]

Back in Torino

July 6, 2009

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I am back to Torino. Where it is blistering hot one moment and then a violent hail storm pushes its way across the city another. The sun is back this morning. And I am staying in the prettiest hotel I have ever been. It is a boutique hotel in the center of Turin and the… [Read more…]

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